There has already been the idea of using an elastomeric ring for prestressing and centering the components. However, such an elastomeric ring has only a very small spring excursion, so that the prestressing force depends to a very great extent on the tolerances of the components. Furthermore, the elastomeric ring loses its spring effect, for example in the radial direction, when it is compressed in the axial direction. In addition to the elastomeric ring, therefore, a corrugated ring is usually provided, which generates the necessary axial prestress between the two components, irrespective of the radial prestress forces.
The problem on which the invention is based is to design a device of the type initially mentioned, in such a way that it can be produced particularly cost-effectively and is simple to assemble. Furthermore, two advantageous uses of the device according to the invention are to be provided.
The first-mentioned problem is solved, according to the invention, by designing the centering elements as regions of the spring ring which are resilient radially inward and/or outward, the radially and the axially resilient regions being capable of being moved virtually independently of one another.
By virtue of this design, the spring ring can be compressed radially, without losing its spring effect in the axial direction. The device according to the invention, having the spring ring, therefore requires a single part which prestresses and, at the same time, centers the components relative to one another. As a result, the device according to the invention is a particularly cost-effective design and can be assembled in a simple way. The spring ring can for example, be of round, oval or such like design so as to correspond to the shape of the components. Furthermore, the spring ring can be severed at one point, in order to push it over one of the components from the side.
As a rule, the spring ring is inserted into a recess of one of the components. In this case, the second component projects with a reduction in cross section into the recess.
The radially resilient regions of the spring ring could, for example, extend over the entire height of the spring ring. However, since reductions in cross sections and recesses often have, at their ends, radii caused by manufacture, the radially resilient regions would be supported on the radii and, in the most unfavorable case tilt the spring ring. According to another advantageous development of the invention, tilting of the spring ring can be avoided in a simple way if the regions designed resiliently in the radial direction are arranged approximately halfway up the height of the spring ring. In this case, the radially resilient regions are supported at a point which is distant from the radii of the components. Furthermore, by virtue of this design, the axially resilient regions are likewise kept at a distance from the radii arranged at the end of the reduction in cross section and the recess.
The spring ring could be designed, for example, as a corrugated ring having radially projecting spring tongues. However, according to another advantageous development of the invention, the spring ring is particularly cost-effective if it is designed to be corrugated in the radial direction. The necessary prestressing forces of the device according to the invention in the radial and axial directions can be set in a simple way by an appropriate choice of the cross section of the spring ring. For this purpose, the spring ring may, for example, have a round or polygonal cross section.